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Right now, there is a movement happening. It is based on the realization that the behavioral and brain sciences stand to improve lives.

As of this year, the Obama administration is considering a multi-billion dollar investment in building a map of the brain.

Cass Sunstein, co-author of Nudge (a famous book on the science of behavior-change) was given a top position at the White House.

There are a growing number of people like Dr. Pooja Agarwal, a public servant dedicated to improving classrooms and policy through cognitive science.

The Think Tank (TTT), as a lab-on-wheels and education station, will bring this movement to the public.

The plan.

TTT will be an art+science team-up between artists and scientists from Tyler Alterman's lab. Together we will transform a recycled box truck into a fully functioning lab with a glowing pink brain on top. The result: a literal and metaphorical vehicle for empowering the public with cognitive science.

Upon hitting the streets, TTT will:

Drive to elementary and high schools where mobile researchers will teach students about the science of the mind.

Invite citizens aboard to participate in studies and teach them how cognitive science can improve their lives.

Collaborate with world-renowned psychologists and neuroscientists to deliver sidewalk talks, taking the public on their explorations into human thought and behavior.

Where will your money go? All $10,900 will go straight into buying the box truck and outfitting it.

The team.

Tyler Alterman // Think Tank Creator

As a child born into a bloodline of New York detectives, Tyler aspired to continue the family tradition, but as a different type of investigator: less Bogart than Boyle—a scientific detective. Though this passion became fairly doused by the "fact-memorizing" of high school science, he rediscovered his love once he began actually doing science as a student of CUNY's Macaulay Honors College. One of his hopes for The Think Tank will be to show kids and adults the type of science that isn't about memorizing lists of facts, but about the process of answering questions in fun, creative, and thoughtful ways.

Using methods from neuroscience, psycholinguistics, and cognitive psychology, Daniel investigates how different cultures, languages, and bodies enable cognitive diversity. He received his Ph.D. from MIT, did his post-doctoral training at Stanford, and spent three years on the Senior Scientific Staff at the Max Planck Institute in Nijmegen, NL. He is currently a professor of psychology at the New School for Social Research. Tyler works in his Experience and Cognition Lab!

In addition to her roles as a cognitive neuroscience researcher, Christine is owner of Confectionary Therapy, a cake-making business run in support of Autisim Spectrum Disorders. Having just gotten her M.A. in Special Education, Christine hopes to continue her studies in a doctorate program. She currently researches how autism influences the brain’s functional connectivity. Both Christine and Tyler are alumni of the incredible Walkabout program.

Autographed copy of the new EP by the Amygdaloids, a rock band made up entirely of neuroscientists.
[+any other rewards you want]

1
out of 5
claimed

Estimated delivery: April 2013

$100USD

I AM A TTT CHAMPION (Level 7)

Exclusive, all-access pass to the Imagine Science Film Festival in NYC.

0
out of 4
claimed

Estimated delivery: April 2013

$3,500USD

I AM A TTT SAVIOR (Level 8)

I (Tyler) will personally fly out to wherever you reside to shake your hand, buy you dinner, and deliver your custom-engraved model of The Think Tank. Your name will be listed on The Think Tank webpage as one of its key donors.
[+any other rewards you want].

1
out of 5
claimed

Estimated delivery: April 2013

SOLD OUT

$5,000USD

I MADE THE THINK TANK POSSIBLE

You will cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony, and be the first aboard The Think Tank.
[+any other rewards you want + Tyler's eternal gratitude for making his dream a reality + the satisfaction that you helped change the world through science literacy].